The End?
by RenoLuvver
Summary: This is the sequel to The Beginning. I suggest you read that one first. For reasons that will be obvious after the first chapter, I can not really say anything about the story here. RenoxElena. Rated M since it's going to be dark.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: So! Here we are! The sequel! I'm really excited about it and I hope you guys are too! PLEASE REVIEW THIS FIRST CHAPTER! I want to see what you guys are think about it. =) That's all I'm going to say for the moment...go ahead and read it. =D _

Reno jogged up the steps to his apartment two at a time, cheerily humming to himself, the keys to his sleek, black, Ferrari jingling in his hand. If Elena had been in the mood to cook, she'd probably have just finished making dinner. If not, then it would be up to Reno to procure something edible. And that meant ordering pizza. _Pizza. It's been awhile._

Reno and Elena had been dating for almost two years, and her almost constant presence at mealtimes had forced Reno to eat better. No more cold pizza from a box on the counter for breakfast, no more chips and cookies for lunch. After an up-close observation of Reno's regular eating habits, Elena had declared that he should be dead by all reasoning. Reno had calmly replied that he rarely chose to follow the path that reason and/or logic carved out.

"I'm home!" Reno called out, kicking the door closed behind him like he always did and tossing the keys onto the table by the door. Elena didn't reply, but he heard her walking around in the bedroom. Sniffing the air as he headed toward the sound of her footsteps, Reno concluded they would be eating pizza since he didn't smell anything cooking.

"So, ya want me to order some pizza?" Reno questioned casually, not really looking for an answer since he had already pulled his cell phone from his pocket and was dialing the number. He leaned in the doorway, watching the girl flutter about collecting her clothes and other various belongings that had somehow found their way from her apartment to his. She was tossing them all haphazardly into a bag, preparing to take them back to her apartment as she did periodically to maintain a feeling of order. Elena had never really moved in with Reno, although she spent more than half of her time at his apartment.

"Do whatever you want," Elena answered his question, her voice low and bursting with emotion. Reno snapped his phone closed before it had a chance to ring and frowned, taking a step into the room. Something was wrong.

"What's the matter, babe?" Reno tried to pull her into a hug but she brushed him off, remaining silent and not allowing him to see her face, "Come on, tell me! Whose ass do I need to kick?" Still, Elena did not say a word. Reno was baffled. He'd seen her upset about things before, but she'd always told him about it. Sometimes she was just downright moody and he knew better than to mess with her then.

"What, are ya doin' that whole PMS thing?" Reno pushed, watching her storm about grabbing all of her belongings.

"Shut up, Reno!" At least he'd gotten her to speak. Her voice had cracked though and Reno correctly interpreted this tell-tale sign that she was about to cry. Reno gulped, beginning to feel alarmed.

"What's goin' on?" he asked quietly, finally grabbing her shoulders and making her face him. Her bottom lip quivered and the tears soon spilled from her eyes, running down her cheeks. She looked at him with a tempestuous mix of anger, pain, and sorrow swirling in her light brown eyes.

"I'm going back to my apartment now," she shrugged his hands off her arms and made for the door, followed closely by the worried redhead.

"What time will you be back?"

"I don't know," Elena answered evasively, struggling to fight her tears.

"I'll wait up for you," Reno promised, wondering what she was upset about.

"I'm not coming back, Reno!" Elena's voice was loud, but not angry, just frustrated. She whirled around with her words to face him. Reno stood still, barely a foot or two behind her, looking stunned.

"W-what do you mean?" He looked scared, an emotion Reno almost never experienced.

"I mean I'm leaving!" Elena's hot tears poured down her face and she squeezed her eyes shut, partly attempting to stop the tears and partly to block out Reno's hurt face, "Leaving you!" With that she turned and jerked the door open, practically running out.

"But… why?" Reno's voice was frantic, "What did I do, Elena?" She ignored him and almost tripped in her hurry to get down the stairs. Reno wanted nothing more than to chase her and find out what was wrong, but something held him back. "Why?" he shouted after her, his voice loaded with the pain and confusion he felt. "Why?!"

_Author's Note: Surprised? I bet you are. Again, PLEASE REVIEW WITH YOUR REACTIONS! I'm DYING to see them. *smirks* For those of you who asked me what it was going to be about, you see why I couldn't tell you anything at all? =P Sorry for the short chapter, but I had to see how everyone feels about this before I move forward with it. I have several more pages written which I will post later this week. I just wanted to post this little bit and leave you all in suspense. xD Plus the next bit isn't quite ready yet. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR REVIEWS!!!!!!!! =D_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: So what a shocker this has been so far! I know you are all DYING to know why Elena left Reno. I'm happy to say that you WILL find out why in this chapter. I really enjoyed seeing your various ideas of why though. =) Oddly enough, I don't have much to say right now....weird, huh? LOL. Anyway, I'm sure you'd rather read the chapter!!! So go on...it's sitting there waiting for you...remember to review! Kthxbai! Got some LOL-cat speak goin' on there. =)_

Rude stepped out of the elevator, steaming coffee mug in hand. As he walked the short distance down the hall to his office, he passed Elena's office door. It was open, just as she usually left it when she was in. Rude stopped walking and glanced at his watch. It was about fifteen minutes before work technically started. This was the time he usually arrived, and the time Elena had at one time usually arrived at as well. When she'd started dating Reno, who was notoriously late, they had sort of evened each other out and both normally arrived together at eight AM on the dot. Yet here Elena was, fifteen minutes early, head bent over a sheaf of papers on her desk, right hand clutching a pen and the other clutching a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," Rude greeted the girl as he walked past receiving nothing more than a muttered 'Morning' in return. _Strange_. Rude shrugged it off. Weren't people allowed to be grumpy ever once in awhile?

Rude noticed that the area was surprisingly quiet…suspiciously quiet for an area that Reno frequented. _He must be planning something._ Narrowing his eyes, Rude continued on his way warily, reminding himself to be extra cautious until he figured out what it was Reno was up to that was keeping him so quiet.

Thirty minutes passed in similar silence, the Turks filling out the never-ending and oh-so-tedious paperwork in their offices. Rude grabbed the file of newly filled out paperwork and left his comfy chair to check in with Tseng and see if there was anything other than desk-work to be done that day. It was when he stepped into the hall that he discovered what was keeping Reno quiet. The reason no Reno-related noise had been heard in the area surrounding their offices was because Reno had not been there. This fact became glaringly obvious to Rude as soon as he saw the redhead exit the elevator down the hall. Many other things quickly became obvious to Rude as the other man trudged closer. Reno was terribly hung-over. His blood-red hair was a mess, not unusual, but even a mess by Reno's standards. Similarly, his black Turk uniform suit looked like he hadn't taken it off all night.

Reno tried to walk past Rude without a commotion, but Rude was not the kind of man you could avoid. Rude grabbed the skinny redhead's shoulder and forced Reno to face him. The man's aquamarine eyes were dark and blood-shot while his light skin had a particularly pale hue. He looked like he hadn't slept at all.

"Who died?" Rude questioned, his joking tone masking his strong curiosity and concern.

"Me, I wish," Reno muttered, shrugging Rude's grasp off his shoulder and walking on towards his office. Rude watched him go in surprise. It had been a long time since he'd seen Reno so upset about something. From the look of him, Reno had been completely smashed the night before. It had been awhile since he'd gotten that drunk too. Something had happened. Rude set his jaw and tossed the file of paperwork back into his office, marching determinedly after his friend. Reno was like his brother and Rude was not going to stand there and watch him be miserable without trying to figure out what was wrong.

* * *

"Just leave me alone, dammit!" Reno mumbled for the tenth time, his head buried in his arms on his desk. Rude sat calmly in a chair as he had for the past twenty minutes. He had declared he wasn't going anywhere until Reno told him what was wrong. Reno had never been one to talk about his problems, and Rude was prepared to sit there as long as it took. As it turned out, he didn't have to wait much longer.

"She left," Reno said simply, choking on the words, his face still hidden by his arms.

"Elena?" Rude was surprised. He'd guessed they'd had some kind of fight since they'd come in at different times, but he didn't think it had been that serious. Reno and Elena hadn't had any real arguments that Rude knew of in the entire time they'd been together. And now they'd suddenly broken up?

"What other girl is there?" Reno questioned with strained sarcasm.

"Why?"

"Ya think I'd still be here if I knew the answer to that?" Reno lifted his head to fix his agonized gaze on his friend, "I'd be off doin' whatever the hell it took to fix it!"

"So what part of you thought getting drunk would be a good way to fix this mysterious problem?" Rude asked, his voice innocent enough, but his disapproval clear in the words.

"Don't go there, Rude," Reno warned, dropping his head again, "It makes it hurt less."

Reno was extremely wounded. That much Rude could tell simply from the fact that the redhead had admitted to feeling emotional pain. Reno was far from being an open person. He despised talking about himself, especially if it involved any of his bad habits.

"You should talk to her," Rude advised, knowing how Reno would feel about that suggestion.

"Yeah right, like she's going to talk to me now," Reno muttered, "You know how she feels about my…methods of handling stress." It was true. Elena had always looked disapprovingly on Reno's tendency to solve every problem by heavily drinking. She was the one person Reno would really talk to about anything without being forced and because of this he'd spent far less time drinking his worries away and more time talking to Elena about them. Obviously he couldn't talk to her about this problem, and thus Reno had fallen back on his old habits and he had fallen hard.

Rude had nothing more to say, and so he quietly left the room, a frown on his face as he wondered why Elena had broken up with Reno.

* * *

Reno remained huddled over his desk, his head throbbing painfully but his heart aching more. He was tired, confused, and hurt. He'd spent the entire night, or the part of it where his head was clear enough to think at least, racking his brain for where he had gone wrong, what he had done to make Elena leave. He hadn't come up with anything, and he still had no ideas. _Whatever she's upset about, I probably only made it worse._ He felt horribly guilty for getting so drunk. He'd been desperate to make the pain go away. Reno was already feeling the need to do something to stop his heart from aching and the darkening thoughts from filling his head.

"I love you, Elena!" Reno whispered to himself, "Don't you love me?" She'd told him she had so many times…why had that changed?

* * *

"Rude, I feel it only fair to warn you that Elena is rather moody today," Tseng commented quietly as he passed the other man in the hall. Rude shook his head.

"It's bigger than that, Tseng. They broke up."

"What?!" Tseng's voice rose with his surprise, but the man quickly dropped it to a whisper again, "You'd better come into my office." Once the door was safely and silently closed behind them, Rude spoke.

"It's true, I just got Reno to tell me. He's got one hell of a hangover," Rude added darkly.

"But I don't understand…why?" Tseng paced slowly, the frown he always wore when trying to unravel a mystery appearing on his forehead.

"Reno said she didn't say," Rude shrugged, "She just left." There was silence for several minutes before Tseng sat down at his desk and looked at Rude very seriously.

"Brace yourself. I fear we are in for a very trying future," the dark-haired man said grimly.

* * *

Elena muttered curses under her breath as she impatiently struggled with the somewhat tricky lock on her office door. Glowering darkly at the ground beneath her feet, Elena made her way out of the Shinra headquarters building. She had purposefully stayed late to avoid running into her co-workers on the way out. She especially didn't want to see Reno. _Damn the idiot, why'd he have to drink so much?_ There was no way Tseng and Rude could have failed to notice something was up because of it. Although she had been as discreet as possible, she had the feeling they knew. Elena felt a bit bad for her harsh judgment on Reno's actions. He was extremely upset, but so was she. Reno just didn't handle things like stress, anger, or depression as well as many people did.

Breaking up with Reno had not been an easy choice. She'd debated about it internally for weeks, all the while straining to hide her confusion from the redhead. It hadn't been hard, he'd never noticed anything was wrong until the day before. Elena's already reddened eyes grew moist as she remembered it. She had made her choice while he was gone on a mission that day. She hadn't really made a plan for how to tell him. It had just happened. She'd lost count, but Elena was sure she'd cried for several hours straight the night before.

The girl was jerked quickly back to reality as she found herself in front of Reno's apartment. Her eyes widening, she realized she'd been heading there out of habit, instead of to her home. With a sigh of relief, she swiftly altered her course and walked as fast as she could until she was safely within her own apartment.

Later that night, as she lay in bed feeling oddly alone, Elena struggled to fall asleep. It's not that she wasn't tired, she was exhausted from the emotional stress but her thoughts swirled so violently through her head that she suspected it might explode. She wondered what Reno was doing. _Probably drinking._ She felt disgusted and sorry for him at the same time. It was such an awful habit he had, drowning anything that bothered him in liquor. He wasn't an alcoholic, he just didn't know any other way to cope. Elena knew she had been his other way to cope. She had been able to get him to talk about things to her instead of simply knocking himself out so he didn't have to think about it. She knew it was her fault he was back to his old habits, and she felt guilty. Elena was frustrated that she hadn't been able to come up with a better way to break up with the man. What she'd done was sudden and harsh, and hadn't helped the painfulness of the situation. She felt bad for hurting Reno at all. She knew his life so far hadn't exactly been the greatest and she personally felt he'd been through more than anyone should ever have to go through. Elena knew him, she knew she'd hurt him where he was most susceptible to hurt. He'd loved and trusted her and she felt like she had betrayed him. Reno could take one hell of a beating any day. As he himself liked to say, he was harder to kill than a cockroach. It was the emotional blows that hurt him, and she'd basically stabbed him through the heart.

What bothered Elena most though, and caused the tears to start dripping down her cheeks, was not the fact that she'd hurt him, or made him fall back on his old bad habits, but why she'd done it. Elena hadn't told Reno why she left him, even though that was the one thing he had asked her the previous night. Reno hadn't actually done anything to deserve what she did to him. It was her own fears that had prompted her. Her own weaknesses that had made her break up with Reno. Elena was afraid that he would leave her. The man had a reputation for quickly loosing interest in women and moving on. True, he'd been with her for what must have been a record time. That could mean something. At the same time, it could mean that his loss of interest could have happened any day. _He does seem upset though…_Elena was hopelessly confused. Would he have left her? Did her breaking it off herself make the pain any better than having him leave her? Had it been a mistake? Had she just ruined her chances with the love of her life?

Her stubborn personality made it difficult for her to admit she may have made a mistake. There was no easy way for her to fix it now anyway. She couldn't exactly go up to Reno and tell him she'd caused him all that pain because she suspected he may leave her at some point and would he please take her back. Elena eventually fell into a troubled sleep, a frown still upon her face as her hopelessly befuddled thoughts clouded her confused mind.

* * *

Reno's aquamarine eyes stared unfalteringly at the empty fogged-glass vodka bottle laying on it's side on the table next to the couch. The room was dark, only half-lit by the glow coming from the light on in the kitchen that spilled into the living room. Why turn a light on when you could see in the dark? He'd rather be in darkness anyway. It seemed fitting. Besides, although he stared Reno saw nothing. He watched as the image of Elena storming away from him replayed endlessly in his mind. _She's beautiful,_ Reno thought despite all the horror that moment had for him. Slumped on the couch with a half-empty bottle of tequila and a glass, Reno blinked and rubbed his eyes with a sigh, attempting to banish the haunting image. The glass in his hand was just for show, he hadn't used it since the third glass. Reno knew he'd drink the whole bottle anyway.

Looking around the empty room, all Reno could see was things that reminded him of Elena. She was everywhere, all throughout his entire apartment.

"Gotta get outta here," Reno muttered to himself, setting the tequila bottle down with a slightly shaky hand and standing up slowly. Running his fingers through his hair, Reno left the memory-filled apartment, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Reno walked into Seventh Heaven, wondering vaguely why he'd chosen that particular bar. _Maybe I just feel like pissin' somebody off. _His presence certainly would anger Cloud Strife, if the blonde man was actually in at the time, a rare-enough occurrence. The cozy bar was far from full, but busy enough for his entrance not to draw much attention. As luck would have it, at least one of the bar's inhabitants was very interested in Reno's arrival.

"What do you want?" Cloud demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and stepping in front of the Turk with frown.

"I just wanna drink, Chocobo-head, so chill out and back off," Reno glared at the man standing in front of him. He was not in a good mood and the two had never gotten along. Cloud didn't move and fight probably would have ensued if a woman's voice had not broken through the mounting tension.

"Leave him alone, Cloud. He's here as a _customer_," Tifa stated firmly, watching them from behind the bar where she was washing a glass. She watched with an eyebrow slightly raised in warning and a concealed smile on her face as Cloud returned to his corner of the room where he watched all the bar's occupants with a suspicious eye.

"Don't cause any trouble," Cloud warned almost sulkily.

"Sorry about that," Tifa smiled as Reno took a seat at the bar, "Cloud can be overly protective sometimes. What can I get for you?"

"I don't care, as long as it's strong," Reno answered truthfully, leaning his head in his hand. Tifa raised her eyebrows.

"Looks like you've already had a few," she commented, nonetheless reaching for a short glass and looking over the liquor for something to give him. Reno responded with a slight huff. "So do you want to tell me what's bothering you?" She leaned on the counter in front of him and pushed the full glass towards him.

"What makes you think somethin's botherin' me?" Reno avoided the question and took a gulp of whatever she had served him and smiled mirthlessly. It was indeed strong. "And won't your little guard dog over there get upset if you talk to me?"

"Cloud? Yeah, he might, but I can do whatever I want," Tifa answered, "And I think something's bothering you because you only come in here when something is."

"Good enough reasoning."

"If you're going to tell me, tell me while you can still form a coherent sentence."

"I ain't gonna tell ya," Reno looked up at the woman standing across from him, "Keep 'em comin' and just keep whatever's left over." Reno tossed an amount of gil onto the table, paying her in advance since he knew he'd end up too drunk to do it later.

"That's what I like about you," Tifa commented, giving up on getting him to talk and picking up the money, "You always make sure you pay." Reno didn't answer. He simply focused on trying to drown his pain as quickly as possible.

_Author's Note: So we have some AVALANCHE presence now...thought I should try writing some of the other FF people for once. Now I'm quite interested to see the reviews after this chapter, so do please leave one for me! The button is right there, it's so easy! =) Thanks!!! I don't know if I will update on Friday or not...it depends on how much I write between now and then. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing like I know you will! COOKIES FOR ALL WHO REVIEW! =)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to update! I got really busy and then had bad writers block! I eventually forced myself to write, but I'm not very happy with this chapter. Hopefully you guys will think differently! Luckily, through a remarkable turn of events, I may be able to post another chapter this weekend!! Keep an eye out for it! _

Elena sighed dejectedly as she brushed her bright blonde hair. She felt weary, even though she'd just woken up about thirty minutes ago. It had been several weeks since her break-up with Reno, and her life was not going well, to put it gently. Her feelings were all in turmoil, although she'd quit crying after week one. She still felt confused about her decision, and the guilty feeling remained, although she constantly tried to rid herself of that particular burden. _There's nothing to be guilty about, Elena!_ She mentally spoke to herself sternly. _People break up all the time for no reason! And you actually have a reason!_ True, her reason was mainly what she felt guilty about. Was it right to leave Reno just because she feared he would leave _her_ at some point in the future? She'd tried for weeks to answer that question, to gain some peace of mind, all to no avail.

Elena had given up trying to answer the question, and was now simply trying to go on with her life normally. With so much confusion inside, it was hard to maintain a cool and collected exterior, especially when the only people around you knew you so well! Elena feared the other Turks would grow see through her nonchalant charade to the confused girl on the inside. And if they believed her act, than she feared they would grow to see her as a heartless bitch after the past few weeks. While Elena pretended everything was perfectly fine, Reno still gave the impression that everyone he had known in the world had died miserable deaths. It wasn't so much in the things he said, since he hardly spoke at all anymore, but in the observations they made. Reno asked her why she'd left everything single day without fail, but she never could bring herself to tell him. Her reason had felt flimsy enough at the time, but as the amount of misery he went through every day piled up, she began to worry he would be angry at her lame excuse.

Of all the things that were working together to make her life unhappy, knowing that Reno believed her act was the worst. He honestly believed she didn't care. She did, Elena cared very much that she was hurting him. She could see it in his eyes every time she actually was able to see his eyes now since he kept them covered with those dark goggles of his most of the time to attempt and hide the dark rings from lack of sleep. _Probably to dim the light too._ That was another thing. Reno was back to drinking every night. He came in late everyday, hung-over and depressed. Strangely enough, his work performance was not suffering. It was almost improving. Of course, he still never did his paperwork, but he was more efficient and ruthless on their missions than he had been for awhile. Everyone had noticed, but no one had said anything since there didn't seem to be much to say. It was surprising definitely, a little confusing, and it worried Elena slightly since Reno was taking many more risks with his life to achieve these results.

In short, work was hell. When Elena walked into the building, she tried to just keep her head down and get to the elevator as quickly as possible. However, her attempts at avoiding the impending awkwardness were futile. The several gossiping secretaries at the front desk stared at her with wide, heavily made-up eyes. No news took long to spread in the Shinra building, especially news as sensational as a girl breaking up with Reno. It was unheard of, and frankly a relief to the secretary world. Elena had noticed them once again making their lame excuses to come by the Turks' offices as often as possible. They'd stopped doing that after Reno and Elena had dated for several months. Apparently it didn't take long for them to get back into their habit of hanging around Reno.

Elena plopped down at her desk for another day that would probably be just like the one before, and the one before that, and so on. Tseng and Rude both greeted her, and she smiled and greeted them back as usual, appearing perfectly pleased with the world. Reno showed up eventually, and hour and a half late, and paused in Elena's doorway, hands shoved deep in his pockets and his shoulders slumped wearily. He was even more of a mess than normal, and his dark goggles hid his aquamarine eyes from view. Elena was thankful for this fact, since she really couldn't handle the agonized, hurt look they would have had.

"Why?" Reno asked, his voice sounding dead. _He's down to just one word now…_Elena noted, rubbing her temples and looking up at the man, carefully keeping her gentler emotions out of her face and eyes.

"Not now, Reno," Elena spoke in an irritated voice, involuntarily taking her frustration with the answer to that question out on Reno. She knew she shouldn't get mad at him because of her own issue, but she couldn't help it. Reno didn't say another word, but turned and trudged off to his office where he'd probably pour himself a drink of whatever liquor he happened to have in his desk at the moment and smoke a pack of cigarettes, surrounding himself in a thick haze of smoke. Yes, the day was turning out exactly like she had expected. That is, until she went to the Shinra cafeteria a few floors down for lunch that day. There something happened that promised to make this day very different…

"He's not handling this very well, is he?" Rude spoke to Tseng as he watched Reno walk past in the hallway. Tseng didn't even look up from the paperwork he was signing for the bald man.

"No, Reno has never handled depression well," Tseng replied, "He's too easily seduced by his darker tendencies." Tseng looked thoughtfully into the distance with a frown. "His weakness for vice shall really be the death of him someday." The man spoke gloomily. "I hate to sound so insensitive, but Reno needs to get over it. Elena has."

Rude remained silent. He normally didn't speak unless he really had something to say. And what was there to say? Tseng had said it all. As Rude walked back to his office with his paperwork, he wondered about Elena. She had seemed very upset the few days after their break-up, but she recovered quickly, and now she appeared to have completely moved past the whole event. It was surprising coming from the usually quite emotional girl. Whenever he saw either of them, Rude wondered with much confusion about what had gone wrong. The two had seemed perfect for each other. They were such a happy couple for so long. Reno still loved her desperately, that much Rude knew.

Later that day, Tseng called all three Turks to his office. It was a very awkward gathering.

"I have a couple of missions for you," the man spoke briskly, wanting to get the awkwardness out of his office as quickly as possible. He continued speaking as he handing a folder to Rude and one to Reno. "Elena and Rude, you shall tend to this one, and Reno can do this one." Rude opened his file, and Elena leaned over to read it.

"But Tseng, sir," she spoke up quickly, and anxiously, "This is tonight."

"Yes?" the Turk-leader inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I, uh, have…something tonight that I have to do. Can it wait?"

"Well, not really," Tseng leaned back in his chair, "But it's not difficult or very risky. I suppose Rude could go by himself. Is that alright with you, Rude?" The bald man nodded his acquiescence.

"Thank you," Elena looked relieved, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, sir."

"It's quite alright, Elena," Tseng looked at the others, "Any more problems?" Rude shook his head, and Reno didn't say anything. "Ok, then you are all dismissed. Reno and Rude, you can start your missions now. Elena, you may as well go ahead and go home. It's only an hour or so until quitting time anyway."

"Thank you, sir!" Elena dashed off, suddenly in a hurry. They were all a bit surprised and confused by Elena's strange behavior, but didn't acknowledge it with more than a brief, slightly awkward pause before Rude and Reno left to perform their missions.

Elena slipped her black high-heeled shoes off, carefully placing them exactly where they belonged in her closet. She glanced at the clock curiously as she slid out of her shimmering black dress. _Wow._ She hadn't realized she'd been out that late. She frowned slightly at herself in the mirror, absentmindedly taking much longer than necessary to brush her teeth as she tried to decipher this new wave of confusing emotions. She had that giddy, almost adrenaline rush type feeling that comes from doing something you know would displease others, while you still have every right to do it. And her recent activity would definitely not make Reno happy.

Elena had gone on a date. She had met him in the Shinra cafeteria, which was probably better defined as a four-star restaurant. Shinra did all it could to keep it's employees happy, and not causing trouble. The convenience of eating even more than one meal a day there was irresistible to many Shinra employees, including the second class SOLDIER, Nick. She hadn't even noticed him, or anyone else around her for that matter, until he spoke. He'd recognized her as a Turk, and made the obvious connection that she was Elena, the only female Turk. Although Elena had been slightly less than encouraging, the man had eaten lunch with her, keeping up interesting and entertaining conversation the whole time. Not surprisingly, he'd heard about her break-up with Reno. Once the other man had brought it up, Elena found herself, almost against her will, blabbering on about the whole situation. It was comforting to talk to someone about it who didn't know Reno, and who was as understanding and sympathetic as Nick. Before long, Elena had found herself agreeing to go on a date with the same man that evening.

Crawling under the warm and inviting blankets, dressed in a baggy t-shirt, Elena sighed into her soft pillow in frustration. _I didn't even know this many different emotions could all get mixed up at once! How the hell am I supposed to tell one from the other?_ Rolling over onto her back roughly, Elena glared at the ceiling. She knew Reno would have been even more upset if he knew. It made her uneasy. She would do her best to keep it a secret, but this kind of thing inevitably came back to bite you. Even with such uncomfortable feelings regarding her date, Elena didn't regret it. She had enjoyed the evening, specifically the further opportunity to talk about the things bothering her to someone who listened and always agreed with her. In that regard, Nick was perfect. He wasn't bad looking either. Probably not quite as tall as Reno, chocolate brown hair, hazel eyes, and with a definitely more bulky build than Reno. Nick was smaller than Rude, but had more obvious muscle than Reno's leaner form. She hated constantly comparing him to Reno, but it was unavoidable. She desperately wanted to keep Reno out of this in her mind, mostly to help convince herself that this had nothing to do with her confusing and anger-producing feelings centered around the red-head. She tried to ignore it, but a tiny voice in the back of Elena's head whispered that she was only spending time with Nick to distract herself from her problems. _That's not why!_ Elena mentally argued with herself. _I have plenty of perfectly normal reasons to like him. He's handsome, funny, nice, and understanding. Why wouldn't I like him?_ Once Elena had concluded that there was no reason for her to not like Nick, she was able to safely quiet that obnoxious whisper of doubt. _I'm going to date Nick because I like his company and there's no reason why I shouldn't! _Putting an end to any further mental debate on the issue, Elena attempted to rid herself of a pounding headache and get to sleep. She contemplated coming up with a story for why she'd wanted to leave, but then tossed it aside, assuring herself that no one would ask. Tension was running too high between them all for anyone to start any unnecessary conversations.

Maybe Elena had been right that no one would conversationally bring up her asking to leave early the day before, but she would never have the opportunity to test the theory. As soon as she walked into her office through the already open door, she knew all attempt at covering up last night was worthless. The three other Turks stood gathered around her desk, on which stood a huge and beautiful bouquet of flowers. A ribbon tied around the stems held a note, the contents of which Elena couldn't doubt were incriminating.

"There was a delivery this morning," Tseng announced needlessly.

"Who the hell is Nick?" Reno demanded, his voice sounding less angry then she had suspected. Then again, Reno hadn't been himself lately and it had become normal for every word out of his mouth to be either dull and lifeless or tainted with heartache.

"Is this why you left last night?" Rude chimed in. Elena took a deep breathe, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping it would all disappear and she would find herself alone and back in bed waking up from a horrible nightmare. She peeked an eye open. _Nope, still there._ Elena did the only thing she could. She glared at them all and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had to report every detail of my personal life to all of you!" Elena strode forward, ripping the note from the flower arrangement and clutching it in her fist. Who knows what it said, and she certainly didn't want _them_ reading it, assuming they hadn't already!

"We're just asking innocent questions, Elena," Tseng stated gently, although the crease in his forehead showed that he was much more interested in the situation than his words betrayed.

"Well if you must know, I met a guy and went on a date with him last night and he was charming enough to send me flowers. He's with SOLDIER," she spoke as coldly as she dared, hoping to stave off any further questions. Reno abruptly shoved off from the wall he'd been leaning against and left the room.

"Shit," Rude muttered under his breath and quickly went off after the redhead. Tseng watched them both go in dismay.

"Elena…" he turned to look back at her slowly, a concerned and helpless look on his face. His sentence went nowhere, as he sighed and left the room, leaving the girl alone with her contrastingly bright and cheery flowers. She stared in frustration at the empty doorway for a moment before remembering the note in her hand. It was simple, yet sweet, telling her how much he'd enjoyed the evening and that he hoped to see her again soon.

Elena sighed and crumpled the note, resting her cheek on her hand. _What a mess…_ It didn't take long for her stubborn side to kick in and resent her friends for questioning her. _I can do whatever I want!_ Almost as if to prove it, Elena briskly pulled out her phone and called Nick, determined to set up another date and further demonstrate how they had no control over what she did.

"Reno, there is literally a cloud of smoke in here," Rude stated when he walked into the other man's office, after having courteously giving him a few minutes to collect himself.

"And?" Reno looked up at the other man, a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"They're bad for your lungs," Rude plopped down in a chair, slowly glancing over the mess of a desk. The poor object was littered with long-neglected paperwork covered by half-smoked cigarettes and ashes. Apparently Reno saw no point in obtaining an ash-tray. The spots that used to be filled with cups of cold, who-knows-how-old coffee were now filled by empty shot glasses.

"You know that's not allowed at work," Rude commented, not needing to tell Reno that he was referring to the alcohol.

"Go tell Rufus to fire me then," the redhead answered, bitterly tossing the cigarette to the floor and turning to stare blankly out the window. Rude sighed. Reno knew the rules, and also knew what he could get away with and what he couldn't. There was no way Rufus would fire Reno without an exceptional reason. "What did ya want?"

That was a question Rude couldn't really answer. He'd followed Reno to make sure the redhead was ok, which he obviously wasn't. He hadn't been ok since Elena had left, and he was only getting worse. There was nothing Rude could do or say to make Reno feel better. Reno waited only a few seconds for an answer before getting up and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Rude asked, his frown deepening.

"To find out who Nick is," Reno spat the name out angrily, as he jerked the door open.

"Reno, killing people is not going to help."

"Didn't say I was gonna kill him."

Rude followed Reno down the hall, knowing this was a bad idea, and powerless to stop the redhead.

"Just don't do anything stupid," Rude warned, letting Reno go.

Reno's forehead rested on his arm while his other hand clutched the half-empty glass containing some beverage or other, he wasn't sure exactly what, he just knew that it was filled with that precious substance: alcohol. He sat at the corner of the bar and hadn't moved for quite some time. Tifa watched him from a few feet away with concern as she wiped off counter tops. It was unbelievably late, and most customers had left, except for those especially drunk who would soon be collected by friends, or kicked out by Cloud.

"Can I kick him out yet?" Cloud asked, waiting eagerly next to the girl.

"No, you can't!" Tifa looked at the blonde-haired man warningly. "Something has really got to be wrong. He's been in here almost every night for weeks now." She shoved her rag into Cloud's hands, "Here, you clean the counter. I'm going to talk to him." She left a disgruntled Cloud and walked over to where Reno sat. "Reno, are you alright?" The redhead didn't respond at first, but when she repeated his name, he lifted his head.

"Nick's a bastard," Reno's words were slurred and he could barely focus his eyes. Tifa was surprised. It took a hell of a lot to get Reno that drunk, and she certainly had not given him that much. _He must have been drinking somewhere else before he came here…_

"Who's Nick?" she asked, looking at Cloud who was watching interestedly. The man shrugged and moved closer, waiting to hear Reno's answer.

"He's a bastard," Reno mumbled angrily, his face flushed, "A lyin' man whore bastard!" His words trailed off into muttered obscenities as he slumped against the counter once more.

"Well he really hates this guy," Cloud commented, completely abandoning trying to look like he was cleaning the counters for Tifa, and coming to stand next to her. Tifa's eyebrows were raised.

"Apparently. I think he's had enough…" she reached forward to take the glass out of his hand but Reno grabbed her wrist. It took more than complete drunkenness to stop his quick reflexes, although they were considerably slower. Cloud almost attacked Reno for it, but Tifa stopped him, extricating her hand from the redhead's grasp.

"That's it, I'm calling Rude," Tifa announced.

"You have Rude's number?" Cloud looked alarmed and horrified, turning to look at Tifa.

"No, dummy," Tifa smacked Cloud on the side of the head lightly, "Reno does. All you have to do is go through his pockets until you find his cell without him reacting."

"Like this?" Yuffie popped up from the other side of the bar, next to Reno. She waved a cell phone playfully in her hand.

"Just like that," Tifa snatched the phone from the young ninja's thieving fingers and began to go through the contact list.

"What are you still doing up?" Cloud teased, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Oh, shut up!" Yuffie spat her tongue out at him, "I'm not that much younger than you! Anyway, I'm staying up all night in case Vincent comes by!"

"Yeah, Vincent's not a pedophile," Cloud threw his arms up to protect his face as Yuffie flew at him from over the counter.

"Got it!" Tifa exclaimed, dialing Rude's number.

"Hello?" Rude answered sleepily. Tifa practically had to yell to be heard over the noise of Cloud and Yuffie's fight.

"Hey, this is Tifa."

"…Why do you have Reno's phone?" Rude sounded considerably cheerier to hear her voice.

"Because Reno's here in Seventh Heaven and he is completely smashed," Tifa shouted.

"Damn. I'll be there as soon as I can," Rude sighed and hung up.

"Break it up!" Tifa turned to the two AVALANCHE members who were attacking each other. Yuffie was laying across the counter, her hands clenched tightly around Cloud's throat while he tried to twist out of her determined grasp. Reno remained oblivious to them all.

"Rude's coming to take you home," Tifa laid a hand on Reno's arm sympathetically. She still didn't know what the matter was, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for the man.

Reno heard her words, but only vaguely comprehended the meaning. He was so drunk he was on the verge of passing out. What angered him was that it wasn't working anymore. At first, after Elena had broken up with him, he'd been able to drown the emotional pain and block out his thoughts with alcohol, but here he was, barely able to register what was going on around him and yet he still felt the dull ache in his chest and the dark thoughts still swirled stormily in his mind. He was bothered especially by what he'd learned earlier that day.

Reno had intended to harass members of SOLDIER until he found out all he needed to know about Nick. He hadn't made it very far before being accosted by one of the numerous Shinra secretaries. This particular young woman must have been particularly ditzy, because for some reason she thought it was a good idea to start a conversation with him about his break up, which eventually led to Elena's new boyfriend. Reno had not been surprised that she knew about it. The Shinra secretaries knew all the gossip the building had to offer, and they wasted no time in spreading it. Reno had been surprised by what he had learned about Nick. Reno lifted his head up to stare at the glass in his hand sadly. He felt literally sickened by his new knowledge.

Nick was a player. According to the secretary, he operated by sweet-talking his way right into a woman's pants, and then ditching her ruthlessly. The woman had said that she herself had told Nick about Reno and Elena's break up, and that the very next day they'd gone on a date. Reno had thought he would be ill when he heard Elena was dating somebody else, but knowing that her new boyfriend would just use her and then dump her made him want to die. _Elena seems to really like that guy…she'd be devastated. I can't let that happen. But how do I tell her? She won't believe me. She'll think I'm just making it up to get her to leave him. _

Reno let go of the glass he'd been clenching tightly and wrapped his arms around his head with a groan. Why was it that nobody tried to kill him when he actually wanted to die, or at least black out for a very long time?

"Damn, Tifa, how much did you let him have?" Rude showed up to collect Reno, still wearing sunglasses although it was roughly three in the morning.

"He must have been pretty far gone when he got here, because I didn't give him that much," Tifa defended, "What's up with him anyway? He's been drinking his heart out in here everyday for weeks now."

"That's exactly what he's doing," Rude replied, looking down at the lanky redhead, "Elena broke up with him awhile ago, and he's not taking it well. She hasn't told anybody why, and Reno has no idea why either."

"Wow, Turkey must really be upset!" Yuffie exclaimed sorrowfully. Even Cloud looked a bit sympathetic. Rude shrugged.

"He loves her," was the man's only explanation. He then spoke louder, putting a hand on Reno's shoulder. "Yo, you need some sleep, man." Reno mumbled something inaudible, but allowed himself to be guided away by Rude.

"Thanks, Tifa," Rude called over his shoulder, doing his best to keep the redhead on his feet and not stumbling into anything.

_Author's Note: Oh, while I'm at it, anyone know any good Reno fan art pics? Feel free to post me a link in a review! xD Thanks for reading and again, I'm sorry for taking so long in updating! _


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Another update! YAY! It's kind of short, but *cough cough* I was actually having issues transitioning from the end of this chapter to the next part and so I decided I would just end the chapter there, and then my issues with transitioning would be less noticeable! xD Hurray for craftiness! =) So, we definitely get a move on things in this chapter...some of you may have predicted the following, and I told one of you so...=P Hope you guys enjoy, and remember to review!!! Thanks!!! You guys rock!_

Reno blinked his eyes open slowly. The dim light of a Midgar-morning that seeped through the curtains was enough to cause bursts of pain in his head, making him groan and squeeze his eyes shut again, burying his face in his pillow. He lay on his stomach, his arms curled around the soft pillow and his blood-red hair spilled messily over it and his shoulders and back. As he slowly drifted back into the conscious world, Reno noted that he was still fully clothed in his Turk uniform, except for his combat boots. He picked his head up again to carefully peek at the clock, confused. He was already an hour late for work. A slip of paper sitting next to the clock caught his eye. Propping himself up on his elbows, Reno reached over and grabbed it, ignoring the pounding in his head. It turned out to be a note from Rude, basically defining the events of the previous night, when Rude had come down to Seventh Heaven to collect Reno.

With a groan the memories flooded back, causing Reno to fall flat on his pillow again. _That son of a bitch._ He lay there without moving, trying to figure out what he should do. _If I tell Elena, she'll just get mad and think I'm making it up to make him look bad. If I tell Rude or Tseng, they might believe me, but they won't want to tell her, and even if they did, she would eventually figure out they heard it from me, and then we're back to square one! _Reno pounded a fist on the mattress in frustration. He had to do something though. He wouldn't let anyone hurt Elena.

He lay there in complete stillness, the sounds of the city outside his apartment enough to make him cringe in his hung-over state. Suddenly an idea hit him. With grim determination, Reno pulled himself from the bed, placing a hand on the wall to steady himself as he pressed a hand to his dizzy head. He found his combat boots placed neatly next to the bed, and put them on, his depressed lethargy momentarily replaced with anger and determination.

Reno leaned against the wall near the elevators on the floor where the SOLDIERS trained. He'd hacked into the personnel file system earlier and found his target: Nick Colm. All he had to do was hang around long enough for the man to pass by, as he inevitably would at some point. Sure enough, Reno didn't have to wait long before a man he recognized from the picture approached the elevators. Reno pushed off the wall, trying his best not to wince at the bright lighting in the hallway. The movement on his part drew the attention of the other man, who only casually glanced his way and then looked away again. With his brilliantly red hair, it was hard for anyone who had heard of him to not recognize him however, and just as quickly, Nick looked back, a light sparking behind the man's hazel eyes.

"You must be Reno," Nick spoke with a politeness that was clearly a thin veil over the hostility in his voice.

"You'd better pray damn hard that you honestly care for Elena," Reno cut straight to the point, not wanting to spend any more time than he had to with the man, "Because if you hurt her, I swear I will literally tear you apart." His aquamarine eyes matched the iciness of his tone. There was a moment of silence as Nick considered this.

"I'm guessing those secretary whores told you about my habits?" Nick looked almost amused by the whole situation which irked Reno. The Turk was dead serious and the man was treating it like a joke. Momentarily suppressing the spinning of his pounding head, Reno put to use his lightening speed and grabbed two handfuls of Nick's shirt, whirling him around and slamming him into the wall, actually making a dent.

"If you treat her with anything less than absolute respect, I'm going to cut you into tiny pieces and feed them to Hojo's monsters," Reno growled, his eyes flashing with anger. Nick took a minute to recover, but then he smiled evilly at Reno.

"I'm going to be the perfect boyfriend, everything you never were, until she completely lets her guard down, and then I'll manipulate her into bed and make love to that pathetic bitch until she can't even remember your name, and when she wakes up, I'll be gone and she won't ever see me again," Nick spoke every word like it was a bullet, and that's exactly what it felt like to Reno. He couldn't even manage to hide the horror and fear in his eyes and on his face. Being a Turk, Reno had seen and done it all. Almost nothing frightened him. Except for Elena getting hurt. That was something that scared him to death.

Taking advantage of Reno's momentary shock, Nick violently shoved away from him, causing Reno to stumble back a few steps while Nick entered the elevator.

"Why?" Reno asked, noting how ironic it was that this was the one question he found himself asking so frequently lately.

"Just because I can," Nick replied as the doors closed between them. This answer was worse than any cause for revenge could have been. That's exactly how worthless Elena was to Nick. Simply another play thing to be conquered and then thrown aside. Reno almost crumpled onto the ground in a pile of misery, anger, and depression right there in the hall, but he managed to hold himself together, with the intent of getting to his office and getting a drink.

When the doors opened on the Turks' floor, Reno wished he had stayed where he'd been. In the doorway to her office, Elena was busy being held in Nick's arms while he kissed her passionately. Frozen where he was, Reno thought he was going to be sick on the spot. _That bastard! He knew I'd come here!_ From his angle, Reno could see Nick's face, and the malicious sparkle in his eyes as he briefly glanced up at the redhead. What he couldn't see was the unenthusiastic look on Elena's face, along with the slight frown on her forehead. Reno backed into the elevator hitting the button viciously for the first floor. He had to get out of there, and he had to get out now. He sank against the wall as the elevator started it's descent. Staring at his feet, the image of Elena with somebody else burned it's way into his mind, making him shudder.

When he was finally home and out of sight of the world, Reno simply allowed himself to sink to the floor, his back against the door as he buried his head in his hands. Nick was going to practically rape Elena, and there was nothing he could do about it. Elena! The woman he would die for in an instant without even thinking about it.

"I need a drink, dammit," Reno pulled himself to his feet and wandered into his kitchen, feeling a thousand pounds heavier. He hadn't felt this miserable ever before. A quick swig out of a bottle of vodka helped steady him for a moment. Eventually he didn't feel the headache from his hangover anymore. He lay stretched out on his back on the couch, the bottle of vodka in his hand was half empty by now.

"Damn," Reno's words were slurred as he slammed the bottle clumsily to the floor and sat up. Any physical pain he had from his hangover was gone, but the stinging, aching pain inside his chest still tormented him. He ran his hands through his hair, resting his head there. He wished there was a way to numb that pain as well. Suddenly an idea, more of a memory, struck him, causing him to tense up nervously and suck in his breath. His whole body frozen, Reno remembered a feeling. Feeling blissfully numb of emotions, your thoughts almost slippery, so that you couldn't really grasp them, freeing you from painful memories. This beautiful freedom from pain…and all it took was a couple little pills. Reno picked his head up, his heart rate increasing as he glanced towards the halfway open bathroom door. If he remembered correctly, there was a half-empty bottle of those precious pills, morphine, left over from his last trip to the infirmary. He could envision the small orange bottle, tucked away in the cabinet. They'd been able to trust him with the painkillers, he'd been able to use them responsibly again.

Reno rose to his feet, almost involuntarily. _No, Reno. Sit your dumb ass back down!_ He warned himself, knowing better. Still, the siren lure of sweet, sweet, emotional numbness was seductive, and too powerful for his weary and broken heart to resist. The silence of the apartment made his stumbling, drunken footsteps sound much louder than they were. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he walked slowly towards the bathroom. _You'll just look. Just knowing they're there is enough. _He took a deep, shaky breath when he reached the bathroom, leaning on the countertop. _You look like shit, _he observed, glancing at himself in the mirror. A wide, bloodshot-eyed face looked back at him, with a vibrantly red mess of hair standing in start contrast to his pale face, even though his cheeks were slightly flushed from the alcohol. He paused only for a moment to look at himself before turning his attention to the cabinet that held his release. Opening it, his eyes quickly searched out the little bottle, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was exactly where he'd remembered it. Trembling fingers closed around the orange bottle and he pulled it out, holding it in his hand. He slid his thumb over the label. _Morphine._

It was like the entire world had been paused. He couldn't hear anything but his pounding heart, and couldn't feel anything except the tortuous pain in his chest. It had been over a month, and he hadn't gotten used to it, and it hadn't gone away. He knew it never would go away. There was only one way to get rid of it, and that was simply to numb it. He wasn't sure how long he'd been holding his breath, but suddenly he let it out in one large puff of air as his hands moved with lightning speed, before his feeble resistance reared it's head again. The lid was off, several of the pills were in his hand and then headed down his throat almost before he even realized what he was doing.

_Shit!_ Fear gripped him as he recalled the horrid moments of his time as an addict. The moments when he wasn't high and the pain seemed so much more magnified by contrast. Guiltily cramming the lid back on the bottle, Reno shoved it back in the cabinet and slammed the door. As he made his way back to the couch, for lack of anything better to do, Reno's fears were gently killed as he once again fell prey to the glorious vision of not having to feel his heartache anymore.

Rude sighed as he rode the elevator up to their floor. He clutched a steaming coffee mug in one hand. He hoped today would be better than the previous day. Reno had been a few hours late, and then had suddenly disappeared for the rest of the day with no trace. Tseng had decided not to bother finding out where he'd gone. They'd concluded he'd needed a break, or some space, or something, and it was best that they not bother him.

When Reno showed up, a bit late as usual, Rude noticed he was behaving differently. He still appeared hung-over, as was becoming the norm, but he seemed less depressed. _Maybe the day off did him good,_ Rude mused, shrugging and going back to his paperwork.

Reno walked into Elena's office, rapping his knuckles softly on the partly open door before slipping in.

"Why did you do it?" Reno asked, following his morning routine. He was serious, but not miserable. Another dose of morphine that morning had seen to that. There was a part of him that screamed and violently fought the drug, but it was too easy to fall back into an old habit. He could feel the resisting part of himself dying more and more every second, but the effects of the drug wouldn't allow him to worry about it, or anything else for that matter. Thus his current lack of depression. "We were happy, Elena. At least I was."

Elena bit her lip, carefully hiding her face behind a file to buy time. She second-guessed her decision enough without him bringing it up all the time. Every time she saw him, it only refreshed her guilt and frustration and confused her further. She needed him to quit asking her, and leave her alone to sort things out! For a brief moment, Elena honestly believed she was going insane. Her thoughts and feelings were so confused and jumbled!

"Reno, just drop it ok? Get over it and move on!" At this point, she _wanted_ him to 'get over it'. The longer he stayed depressed over her leaving him, the weaker her reason became, and the more the guilt piled up. He would never forgive her for what she'd done now! She feared she had sounded more harsh than she had intended, and this feeling was aggravated by Reno's extended silence.

"Elena, if you ask me to stop talkin' to you, I will. Even if you asked me to stop lookin' at you, or thinkin' about you, I would try, to make you happy. But don't ask me to stop lovin' you, because I can't," Reno spoke quietly and sincerely, not waiting for a reply before he left the room.

Reno had the vague idea that he should be feeling awful, but instead he felt slightly pleasant. The world around him somehow didn't seem completely there, or maybe it was that he wasn't completely in the world. He didn't know, and he didn't really care either.

_Author's Note: So who thinks Nick is a bastard? Show of hands? Or reviews? xD As far as his last name goes...I stole that off the credits of a DVD that was laying on my desk. =) I suck at naming people. So, those of you who actually read my little ramblings, who remembers last time when I asked for links to some good Reno pics? Well, one of my most fabulous readers and constant reviewer was kind enough to ask for my email and then SEND ME MULTIPLE AWESOME PICS OF RENO SEVERAL TIMES A DAY! O_O It's like being fed Reno intravenously and it is AMAZING! So thank you, AlayciaxReno!!! =D _


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: UPDATE! Hurray! This story is a bit shorter than I had hoped, but I have a really interesting idea for one ready to go, and those one-shots I can keep doing too so...yeah. Don't worry. =P We're a few chapters away from the end, so hang on! Sorry if this seems to be moving too quickly, I'm just bad at pacing things sometimes. I'm in a hurry today, so that's all for now! Enjoy!_

Reno kicked his apartment door closed behind him, like he always did. He sighed, the sound filled with dismay as the lump in his pocket weighed him down as if it was twenty times it's actual weight. He pulled the bag out, and stared with mixed feelings at the little blue pills inside. He hated them, hated being so dependant on something just to feel like he was keeping his sanity. And yet, he didn't think he could live without them anymore. He wanted them, needed them. Even now, as the high was wearing off slightly, he could almost feel the urgency rising within him to take more. It was always like that, and because of it, he seemed to take one additional pill every time.

It had been a mere two or three weeks or so since he'd succumbed and fallen back into his old habit. There was a part of him that knew he was spiraling downward, and although that was only confirmed by the side effects he kept noticing, he couldn't bring himself to care about it. And that's what he had wanted, wasn't it? To be able to not care anymore, to be free.

"You're thinkin' too damn much," Reno muttered to himself, rubbing his forehead tiredly. He hadn't slept hardly at all in the past few days. That was one of the side effects: insomnia. _Luckily,_ Reno thought grimly, _There's a magic cure for that too. _That was why he had the second bag. The bag of sleeping pills. It was all thanks to his childhood in the slums that he'd known exactly where to go to get what he needed.

The very feelings he'd done all this to escape from were quickly resurfacing as his high wore off. Hurriedly, Reno tossed a few of the morphine pills and a few of the sleeping pills into his mouth and washed them all down with a splash of rum. Turning off the few lights he'd had one as he went, Reno walked down the hall towards his room. It was late, and he just wanted some sleep for once. Stripping down to his boxers quickly, Reno tossed himself onto his bed and wrapped up in a blanket, waiting impatiently for the drugs to kick in. It wasn't long before they took their effect, and the redhead fell into a deep, drugged sleep.

The tension level at work seemed to have ebbed slightly, but to Tseng it only appeared to be an uneasy calm before the storm. Reno hadn't been quite so depressed lately, and for that, Tseng was glad. He hoped the redhead was beginning to be able to get a grip and accept what had happened. As Reno shuffled past slowly in the hall, Tseng called to him from his office.

"Reno," Tseng paused for an answer. Reno continued walking past, not appearing to have heard him. "Reno!" Tseng called again, getting up and walking to the doorway of his office. Reno stopped walking a moment later and turned to face Tseng, his reaction delayed by a few seconds.

"Huh?" the redhead questioned. He'd been quickly building up tolerance to both types of pills, resulting in increasing dosages of both. The increased amount of drugs in his system accounted for his sluggish response.

"What's the matter with you? Didn't you hear me?" Tseng asked, wondering why Reno hadn't noticed. Reno was normally so alert to everything.

"No…" Reno replied vaguely, having a bit of trouble focusing on the conversation. Tseng's eyes narrowed.

"Reno…" Tseng let the word hang in the air almost questioningly as he closed the step or two in between him and the redhead. He looked closely at Reno, who was frowning slightly and looking more than a little confused by his surroundings. Tseng grabbed Reno's wrist suddenly, feeling for his pulse. _Cold skin, slowed pulse._ Tseng had seen these symptoms before. He dropped Reno's arm as suddenly as he had grabbed it.

"Reno, what have you been taking?" Tseng demanded sharply, his voice rising and filled with anger.

"What?" Reno looked at Tseng and blinked drowsily, "I dunno what you're talkin' about."

"Dammit, Reno, I'm not blind!" Tseng was shouting now, but his distress was lost on Reno who was too high to really notice.

By this time, Rude had come out of his office and was standing close by, appearing quite distraught.

"What do you think you're doing, man?" Rude asked, much quieter than Tseng but with strong undertones of warning and disappointment.

"Are you crazy? I thought you were over this!" Tseng's arms were crossed and he paced back and forth over a tiny area angrily. Reno was starting to look upset.

"I just can't…handle feeling that anymore!" Reno shouted defensively, backing up, "I had to do something!"

"What's going on?" Elena opened the door to her office apprehensively, hearing the shouting.

"He's high!" Tseng turned to face her abruptly, still shouting, "Completely high!" Elena looked at Reno, her mouth falling open and a shocked expression on her face. Reno had looked in her direction when she appeared, and their eyes locked for the first time in ages. Elena had been avoiding his gaze. His aquamarine eyes looked confused, clouded, but as he looked back into her surprised and sad eyes, shame quickly filled his.

"Go home!" Tseng turned back to Reno, "We have no use for drugged Turks! Just go home and don't come back until that shit's worn off!"

"Sorry," Reno mumbled, staring at the ground and hurrying off as quickly as his drugged body would allow. Tseng fumed in the hall for a few more seconds before storming back into his office and slamming the door. He dropped heavily into his chair, rubbing his forehead. He was so disappointed and upset. He had tried so hard those several years ago to help Reno over his addiction. The pride he'd had in the redhead when Reno had finally conquered it had just been crushed. Tseng thought of Reno more as family than friend. Not exactly as a brother, and not exactly as a son. He was already beginning to calm down from his initial flare of emotion, and was starting to regret how harsh he'd been. He only hoped the encounter would make Reno stop taking whatever he was taking. He couldn't have been back on drugs for long…hopefully this could still be ended without too much difficulty.

Rude and Elena stared at each other.

"This is my fault," Elena whispered, not trusting her voice to anything louder. Rude looked like he was about to say something, but then he stopped and simply nodded. Elena stood there a moment longer, before abruptly turning and closing her office door behind her.

Rude found himself standing in the hall, unsure of who to go after. Reno clearly needed help right now, Tseng was probably completely crushed and quickly sinking into depression, Elena might be crying and was blaming herself for the situation, which was mostly caused by her actions, and Rude himself was extremely upset. Unsure of what he could possibly do, Rude simply turned and escaped to his own office to think it over.

Reno paced his apartment with a deep frown. He was still upset about what had happened at work, which was a bad sign. He needed it to go away. He could still see Elena's face as if she were right in front of him. The shock and disappointment in her face was something he'd never wanted to be the cause of. Tseng and Rude too…they were upset with him too. Tseng had been yelling, and although Reno couldn't even really remember the words, he knew the meaning well enough. His own disturbed emotions weren't being numbed by the drugs, and this was only making him more upset.

Suddenly altering course and heading for the bathroom, Reno determined he'd simply have to take a few more pills to quiet the internal turmoil, even though he'd taken several morphine pills just two hours before. He'd probably take some of the sleeping pills too. What better way to forget what bothered you than to sleep? Besides, he felt so tired…

His hands trembled slightly, probably since he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. He just hadn't had an appetite lately, and eating hadn't seemed important. Nothing had seemed important on his wonderfully pain-free high. In his hurried desperation to return to that calm state, Reno swallowed a good deal more pills than he really had intended. He leaned heavily on the counter, breathing shallowly. That was another troublesome side-effect. He'd experienced issues with his breathing since he'd been on the drugs.

The sleeping pills took effect with disturbing rapidity, causing Reno to sink slowly to the floor. Reno panicked at how quickly he was falling unconscious, but it was short-lived as the world around him turned black and his head fell back against the wall.

None of the Turks spoke to each other for the rest of the day. In fact, they all managed to avoid each other almost completely. They were all too upset and wrapped up in their own thoughts to want any interruption. Elena was at a loss for what to do. She wasn't even sure if she _should_ be doing something. For lack of any better ideas, she simply carried on with the plan she'd already had for her day, namely, meeting up with Nick that evening for a date.

"Hey, gorgeous," Nick greeted her with his sweet smile as always when she opened her apartment door to his knock. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hi," Elena's voice betrayed the weariness she felt after the day's discovery. A small frown appeared on his face.

"You sound tired."

"I am. It's been a really rough day," Elena replied, her face troubled. She couldn't stop worrying about Reno. She knew the trouble he'd had with addiction in the past, and she knew it couldn't go anywhere good.

"Reno still bothering you?" Nick asked, his tone sympathetic as he put an arm around Elena's shoulders and steered her to the couch to have her sit down.

"No, he's not bothering me, but he is the problem," Elena wasn't sure if she should tell Nick or not. He was always so easy to talk to, and it really did make her feel better to get out what she was feeling, or at least thought she was feeling inside. Then again, would Reno really want her to tell Nick? _Well of course not, but only because he doesn't want me to have anything to do with Nick._

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nick asked, pulling her closer to him. Elena caved.

"Reno's doing drugs again," she blurted out suddenly, "And I think it's my fault."

"The guy's a druggie too?" Nick looked disgusted, "How is that your fault?"

"Well, apparently he was addicted to painkillers before I ever joined the Turks, but then he got over it. Today Tseng figured out that Reno was on drugs again and I'm positive it's because he was depressed about me leaving!" Elena blinked away tears.

"Chain-smoker, womanizer, binge drinker, druggie….how did you end up with a guy like that, Elena? You deserve so much better," Nick's carefully calculated words were smooth and sweet, "He may have taken the drugs because he was depressed over losing you, but it's not your fault if he doesn't know how to handle it when things don't go his way."

Elena frowned, wanting to say something in Reno's defense, but what Nick was saying was close enough to the truth to be hard to argue against. So she just kept quiet.

"You probably don't feel like going anywhere tonight," Nick continued, "So how about we just stay here and watch a movie or something?"

"Yeah, ok," Elena agreed, nodding her head. She really didn't feel like going anywhere. She was too preoccupied with Reno to focus on much else.

By the time they were half-way into the romantic comedy, the sort of movie Reno hated and protested loudly against whenever she had tried to make him watch one with her, Elena was getting drowsy. It was surprising how much you could get worn out just by emotion and thought, and the darkness of the room wasn't helping her stay awake.

Nick easily maneuvered her petite frame so she could lay down on the sofa with her head on a pillow. He bent over to press a kiss to the girl's lips. Elena kissed him back sleepily, noting how nice it was of him to make her comfortable. She was distracted from her sleepy reflection when she noticed that he was still kissing her. Her mind rebelled against being drawn from it's resting state, but she forced herself to wake up more and realize that Nick was now on top of her, his hands creeping alarmingly over her body.

She struggled faintly, the whole thing feeling completely wrong. It was then that it hit her like a ton of bricks. She did not care for Nick at all. She did not want to be with him, certainly not like this. She resisted more, but he ignored the hint and as his hand slid under her shirt and touched the bare skin of her waist, Elena panicked, memories of a now two-year-old night of horror in a cold and dirty basement breaking down the walls she'd blocked them behind and flooding her mind.

"Get off of me!" Elena screamed, managing to get an arm free and landing a punch on the side of his jaw. It hadn't been a very powerful attack, but Nick quickly came to the realization that he wasn't going to get anywhere. He backed off, and Elena jumped up, putting the little end-table between them. Her eyes were wide and scared, but also threatening as she stood there defensively.

"Elena, I'm sorry, I didn't realize-" Nick's attempt at salvaging the situation was cut off by the ring of Elena's phone. The girl snatched it up, never taking her eyes off Nick. He could see in her gaze that there would be no saving this one. He had lost in his little game.

"Hello?" Elena answered, "Hi, Tseng." Her eyes flashed and Nick stood frozen there only a second longer before he moved quickly to the door and let himself out. He'd stay away if he knew what was good for him.

"Elena, I hope I didn't wake you, but I need you to do me a favor," Tseng was speaking quickly, and hadn't even noticed the slightly panicky tone that remained in her voice, a sure sign that something was up, "Go to Reno's apartment and see if he's there. I've been trying to call him and …apologize for my harshness earlier, but he's not answering his cell or his home number. You're only a block or so away from him."

"Um, yeah, I can do that," Elena agreed, already feeling awkward about going over there, but she had already been worried about Reno and this made her even more concerned.

"I'm sorry to ask this of you, I know it must be difficult considering how you two stand right now," Tseng went on, "But I don't have a good feeling about this."

"I don't mind, sir. I'm on my way now," Elena was fully awake as she snapped her phone closed, shoving it in her pocket and heading out the door. She couldn't help but glance around nervously for Nick. The man could easily over-power her if he surprised her, but he seemed to have been scared off when Tseng called. The timing of it really was uncanny. Elena didn't have time to think about that now. All her thoughts were on Reno as she walked quicker and quicker towards his apartment.

It felt strange being back in the vicinity of Reno's apartment. She hadn't been near it since they broke up. Elena knocked, but knew he probably wouldn't answer. If he hadn't been answering his phones, why would he answer a knock at the door? Without even waiting more than a second for a response, Elena tried the doorknob and found it was unlocked. That didn't surprise her. Reno had always been bad at locking his door. His theory was that anyone lame enough to be hindered by a lock wouldn't be able to hurt him anyway, and anyone really bent on hurting him wouldn't simply give up at finding the door locked. Thus, in his mind, bothering to lock the door was useless. Elena couldn't help but allow a small smile to appear on her face as she reflected on Reno's logic. It was ridiculous, and no one else would agree with him, yet it made sense. So much of the redhead was like that.

Pushing the door open, Elena closed it carefully behind her as she stepped into the dark apartment. Again, she wasn't surprised to find it dark. When Reno's mako-enhanced eyes allowed him to see fairly well in the dark, why should he bother to turn on lights? Also, Reno's surroundings tended to reflect his moods. If he was depressed enough to be taking drugs again, then he would want his surroundings to be dark, just like his thoughts.

"Reno?" Elena called out hesitantly. She felt quite awkward coming back here after the way she'd left. He didn't answer, so she flicked on a light and quickly glanced over the abandoned living room. It was a mess, littered with a disturbing amount of empty liquor bottles. Elena sighed, feeling more and more weighed down by all the evidence of how her actions had hurt Reno. She'd known she was hurting him, but she had tried to ignore it as if that would somehow make it better. She drifted slowly through the room, collecting as many of the bottles as she could carry and taking them into the kitchen where she deposited them neatly on the counter, to be dealt with later.

"Doesn't he eat anymore?" Elena muttered to herself, looking around the kitchen that didn't look like it had been touched in quite some time. _He probably hasn't had a good meal since I left._ She felt a pang of guilt. Reno was fully capable of procuring food for himself, so she knew he wasn't helpless. She knew when he was that depressed he probably simply wouldn't bother eating more than what would just barely keep him alive.

"Reno?" she called out again, poking her head around the corner of the kitchen doorway and into the hall. It was dark, like the rest of the apartment. Feeling along the wall for the light switch that she knew was there, Elena began to feel uneasy. Reno was probably just out drinking somewhere, but she felt nervous for some reason, almost reluctant to continue searching his apartment. Elena's breath caught in her throat as she stood there, looking down the hall. The door to the bathroom was open, allowing her to see Reno crumpled on the floor, his body leaning limply against the wall.

"Reno!" Elena covered the few feet between them in record time, her heart pounding in her chest. With wide, scared eyes, she knelt down next to him and put her hands on his shoulders, turning him to face her and trying to wake him. His head fell limply against her shoulder. Frantically grabbing his wrist, Elena searched his cold skin for a pulse. She let her breath out in relief. It was there, but it was slow and faint.

"Reno, wake up!" she pressed a hand on his cold cheek, glancing around the room. Her eyes fell upon the bags on the counter. She grabbed them quickly, examining them with sharp eyes. The blue ones she recognized as morphine pills, just like the ones he'd asked her to be in charge of, back before he had trusted himself with them again. Elena tossed the bag roughly aside, feeling intensely angry at the painkillers. The other pills were harder to identify. Elena peered at them for a few moments before it hit her. _Sleeping pills!_

She was really frightened now. She knew the dangers of sleeping pill overdose. The real question that haunted her was whether this was just an accidental overdose, or if Reno had been trying…no, she wouldn't even think about that. She couldn't have done that to him. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tossed that bag aside too, wrapping her arms around Reno and letting his head rest against her. She could feel his weak and shallow breathing against her neck. At least he was breathing. The tears began to spill silently down her cheeks as Elena pulled out her cell and dialed Tseng's number.

"I found him, sir," Elena said, her voice holding together surprisingly well considering how she felt right then, "He's unconscious, but alive. You need to come get us."

"Damn," Tseng replied, "I'm on my way now. I'll be there as fast as I can, Elena. What's happened to him?"

"I think he overdosed on sleeping pills. I found them along with a bunch of morphine pills. He's hardly breathing, Tseng!" Elena's voice started to tremble now, "You have to hurry!"

"Give me fifteen minutes, Elena, I'll be there," Tseng answered, "I have to hang up now. Call me if anything changes." Elena nodded, and somehow Tseng understood since he hung up with a click. Elena simply dropped her phone to the floor, hugging Reno tighter, as if trying desperately to hold on to him so he wouldn't go anywhere. Suddenly, all the confusion that had haunted Elena for so long was gone.

"I'm sorry, Reno. I'm so sorry," Elena sobbed, wishing he could hear her, "Just please be ok!" Her tears dripped off her cheeks and fell onto his pale face. She knew exactly what she wanted, and she going to fight for it with every ounce of strength she had. "I can't lose you, Reno! That's why I left you in the first place!" Her words poured out, but fell on deaf ears. "If you were ever to leave me, I just couldn't handle it! I love you, Reno! Just please, please be ok."

_Author's Note: Again, in a huge hurry, you're lucky to be getting an update tonight! But I promised someone, so I'm sticking to it! That's all for now, hope you guys liked it! More coming soon, I promise! Please REVIEW! And tell me what you think! For those of you who are interested, I FINALLY SAW ACC THANKS SO SHADOW'S INTERCEPTOR! Thanks, darling! xD _


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: So this is the last chapter. =P Short story, I know. Don't be alarmed, I have another great one that I can't wait to start. It'll be a tad different than what I normally do, but you'll just have to wait and see! xD I may do a couple one-shots first, I don't know. We'll see. In the mean time, go ahead and read the update. I hope you like it!_

It was the longest fifteen minutes of her life. Elena sat there, holding onto a cold and limp Reno. She hardly thought at all, just sat there and whispered love and encouragement to the unconscious man she held. Nothing was important to her at all except that Reno be ok. Tseng couldn't get there fast enough to suit her.

"Alright," Tseng rushed in and knelt beside them for a moment, grabbing Reno's wrist and checking the pulse, "He's going to be fine, Elena, we just need to get him over to the infirmary. But he's going to be alright, you hear me?" Tseng spoke sternly, but hurriedly, and Elena knew his words were to reassure himself as well as her.

"Should we call Rude?" Elena questioned, wiping the tears from her eyes as Tseng easily picked up Reno's light body and she climbed off the floor to follow them.

"Already did," Tseng replied, "He's meeting us there."

The ride to Shinra headquarters was not long, but Elena felt impatient. She sat in the backseat of Tseng's car, Reno's head laying on her shoulder while she held his hand tightly and ran her fingers through his hair with the other. The occasional tear still fell from her eyes, but she was composed for the most part. She looked out the window at the buildings flashing swiftly by. The night sky of Midgar was surprisingly clear, the stars and the moon shining brightly and bathing the world in a silvery light. _I made a mistake. I know that now. He's all I've ever wanted. Just please, please let me have a second chance with him._ Elena wasn't sure who she was begging this favor from, she just knew it was all that mattered anymore. She didn't care what happened to her, as long as Reno was there with her it would be ok.

"Somebody needs to be taking better care of that man," the doctor announced, coming into the room where he had forced the Turks to wait while he evaluated Reno's condition, "He's in here all the time with some wound or other, and now you bring him to me seriously malnourished and unconscious from a sleeping pill overdose!"

"There are certain dangers that come with the job," Tseng stated simply, obviously choosing to address the topic of wounds.

"So tell me exactly what Turk duty he was performing that ended up with him overdosed on sleeping pills and morphine," the doctor shot back without missing a beat. Tseng looked uncomfortable.

"That's my fault," Elena's voice was almost a whisper as she stared at her feet, "Is he going to be ok?"

"Yes," the doctor answered, raising his eyebrow, clearly still disgruntled about the lack of care Reno was experiencing, "He's still unconscious, but we're monitoring his vitals and hopefully he'll wake up in several hours. You can all go home and rest. We'll call you if anything changes."

"I'm not leaving him," Elena said, her voice firm, "Not this time."

The sun rose on Midgar a few hours later, illuminating shiny grey streets above the plate, and not even touching anything below. In a hospital room nestled away in the massive Shinra headquarters, Elena lay curled up asleep next to Reno, her hand resting lightly on his chest, right above his heart, right where the scar remained from a particularly nasty knife wound he'd had two years ago. She'd fallen asleep like that many times in the past, her fingers gently rubbing the slightly raised scar tissue.

Elena opened her eyes, blinking the remains of sleep from them. She was surprised at first to find herself with Reno, but then she remembered and she cuddled closer to him. The buttons on his white shirt were halfway undone, and Elena slid her hand under the fabric to rest inside his shirt on his bare skin. Reno was still not awake, but his heart rate and breathing had strengthened, and was closer to normal. This gave her hope, and she wished he would wake up soon. She needed to tell him how sorry she was, and how much she loved him. Elena looked up into his face, barely inches from hers. She ran her hand lightly over his cheek, ignoring the coldness of his skin that she'd been told would go away as the drugs wore off. She let her fingers play with his blood red hair, and she sighed. She'd missed him so much, missed being close to him. How she ever thought that what she'd done made sense, she'd never know. Elena just hoped that he would forgive her. She had put him through hell many times over at this point.

Elena didn't even bother to try and make it look like she was keeping her hands to herself when she heard the door open. She continued stroking Reno's face and hair and decided that whoever it was could just get over the fact that she liked touching him. Tseng and Rude soon came into view, half-smiles that they tried poorly to hide on their faces.

"I'm guessing he hasn't woken up yet," Tseng stated. Elena shook her head. Rude yawned, and Elena narrowed her eyes. Tseng and Rude had left when she decided to stay the night before, yet it didn't look as though either of them had slept.

"He's going to feel terrible, like the worst hangover he's ever had times ten," Tseng said, "I just hope the withdrawal isn't too bad. Look, he probably won't wake up for awhile yet. You could go grab a coffee or something and we'll stay with him."

"I may just run off to the locker rooms and take a quick shower," Elena reflected. She could use the refreshing feeling a shower would give her, after her night mostly spent in tears. "I'll be back in a few." She pressed a light kiss to Reno's cheek and slipped off the bed, running off so as to be gone for as little time possible.

Reno's eyes opened sluggishly, and he stared at the ceiling blankly for a moment, his brain taking awhile to catch up. He turned his head to the side, licking his dry lips and wondering where that obnoxious beeping noise was coming from.

"I think he's awake." Rude's face popped suddenly into Reno's field of vision, staring anxiously at the redhead from behind the ever-present sunglasses. Reno's forehead furrowed into a slight frown upon seeing Rude. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but didn't say anything. The redhead closed his mouth again, turning his to look back at the ceiling as he brought a hand stiffly up to his head which pounded fiercely. He felt incredibly lethargic, and everything around him seemed too loud, too bright, and shapes seemed too sharp and defined.

"Reno? How are you feeling?" Tseng was standing next to him, looking down with concern, "Here, have some water." He handed a plastic cup full of water of the redhead.

"Weird," Reno mumbled, gratefully accepting the drink. He held a hand up in front of his face and examined it carefully with no particular purpose in mind. He noticed absentmindedly that there was an IV needle stuck in the back of his hand. "What happened?" There was a moment of silence as Reno let his hand fall back down tiredly.

"Well," Tseng cleared his throat, "You overdosed on sleeping pills and you were unconscious for probably almost a day by now." Reno's eyes opened a little wider as his memory of recent events came back to him. His expression instantly darkened and he turned to the side, hiding the majority of his face from the two men.

"Sorry," his voice was low and husky. _Shit!_ Reno pressed a hand over his eyes in despair. He'd only made it worse, like he'd always known he would. Now not only did he have the pain of Elena leaving to deal with, that had driven him so far as to return to his old addictions, but now Tseng had found out about the drugs and he wouldn't be allowed to relieve his pain at the expense of his health. Also, he had to deal with withdrawal and the horrible guilt and shame he felt at having let them all down. They'd all believed in him and he'd succumbed to drug abuse again.

Every horrible thing began to pile up in his head, making him think it was going to burst. He already felt terrible physically, and now his emotions were raging again, threatening to tear him apart. Reno started to legitimately panic. He knew he couldn't handle this. Reno was a hardened killer, capable of withstanding mind-numbing amounts of physical pain, but for some reason he could not cope with heartbreak, and it was driving him mad. Tseng would watch him closely after this, so now he wouldn't even be able to get drunk to dull the pain a little.

Rude and Tseng looked at each other awkwardly. They could see Reno trembling ever so slightly. Neither of them really knew what to say to him regarding Elena. How did one casually bring up the fact that she hadn't let go of Reno for the majority of the night? Luckily they were saved the trouble as Elena herself came in shortly, glancing around casually before stopping dead in her tracks. With widening eyes, she noted how Tseng and Rude stood near the hospital bed, and how Reno had moved, with his back now facing them. She glanced from Tseng to Rude quickly, her face asking for confirmation. Tseng simply nodded and he and Rude headed for the door at once, realizing it was time for them to go.

Elena couldn't even speak. She stood frozen a moment longer before dashing around the bed to see Reno. He lay there, a hand over his eyes and a pained expression on his face. But he was awake, and that filled Elena with such an invigorating feeling of relief. Without stopping to speak, or give him fair warning of any sort, Elena rushed forward and placed her hands on his cheeks, impatiently swatting his hand away from his face as she pressed a kiss to his surprised lips. When she pulled back, his bright aquamarine eyes were fixed on her with shock and pained longing. For once, Reno was not even bothering to attempt and conceal his emotions.

"Tell me this isn't just a cruel dream," Reno pleaded desperately, still staring at her like he couldn't get enough.

"No, no, it's not," Elena could have cried, and her heart lurched at the sound of his voice. How could she have ignored what she was doing to him for so long? "I'm really here, and Reno, I've been such a terrible, horrible, bitch. I was so confused, but I've come to my senses and I love you so much!" Reno continued to stare at her, his mouth dropping open as he listened to her words. He was clearly reluctant to believe them, for fear it would all be torn away from him again. Elena smoothly climbed into bed next to him where she'd been all night. She kissed him again, longer this time, and he kissed her back.

"But why did you leave?" Reno's voice shuddered, as he tentatively placed his weakened hand over hers that was gently stroking his cheek, particularly the red tattoos along his cheek bone.

"Because I loved you so much, and I didn't think you would love me forever. I was so afraid of losing you, that I tried to prevent it by leaving," Elena's eyes grew tearful, "But in doing that, I almost did exactly what I was trying to prevent. I almost lost you last night, Reno." She hugged him tightly.

Reno laid his head back on the pillow wearily. He didn't say a word, and after a moment Elena glanced up at his face.

"Are you crying?" she breathed, her voice lowered to a whisper by surprise. A sparkling tear slid from Reno's closed eye and fell onto the pillow.

"No," he whispered back, the tiniest grin touching his lips. Elena smiled. It had been a long time since she'd seen him smile, and she missed it. "I just…can't believe I have you back." He opened his beautiful eyes and turned his head to face her, simply looking at her for a moment before leaning forward to kiss her, softly at first, but quickly becoming passionate.

"How could you ever think I would leave you?" Reno questioned, when their lips finally broke apart. His eyes looked troubled as they searched hers.

"I'm crazy," Elena replied, lacking any other answer.

"I think that's why I like you so much," Reno smirked, prompting Elena to plant a quick kiss on his lips. She loved his trademark smirk. "But seriously, Elena. I think you're gorgeous, and amazing, and funny, and there's no one in the world I'd want to be with more than you." The redhead kissed her softly every few words, as if to emphasize his point. "So don't worry anymore. And if you ever get scared that I don't love you, come find me at once and let me show you that I do." Reno breathed the words into her ear and then fell back on the pillow and closed his eyes. Although his breathing and pulse were doing fine, he seemed to be falling asleep again. Elena lay curled up against him, absentmindedly tracing the lines of his body with her finger, just happy to be with him. Reno slowly fell into a natural sleep, soaking up her every touch.

"You can take him home now," the doctor declared, removing the IV needle from Reno's hand, "Just make sure he gets plenty of rest and nourishment." The doctor regarded Reno sternly. "Eat your vegetables and quit popping pills." The man was blunt, as always, but to deal with Reno, sometimes you had to be blunt. Reno simply grunted his understanding, sitting on the hospital bed with his knees drawn up. His elbows rested on his knees, and his head leaned on one hand. Rude wordlessly handed the redhead his jacket.

While Elena busied herself by practically putting Reno's jacket on him while he laced up his combat boots, the doctor spoke to Tseng.

"You all have got yourselves one hell of an issue-prone friend over there," the man smiled mirthlessly and shook his head, "He wasn't abusing the drugs for long this time though, so hopefully the withdrawal symptoms will be milder and go away sooner. For heaven's sake, keep an eye on that man though!"

"I don't think we'll have to worry about that part," Tseng watched Elena flutter about trying to make sure Reno was as comfortable as he could be standing where he was. The redhead observed her with an amused smirk on his face as the girl abruptly hugged him.

"Reno, do you want to come to work tomorrow or not?" Tseng asked as they all walked down the hall together.

"Hell yeah," Reno replied, giving Tseng a bit of an awkward look, "I don't wanna sit around by myself all day with nothin' to do. That could be…bad." He didn't have to be more particular, since they understood what he meant.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow then," Tseng smiled and nodded at them both as they all went their separate ways at the entrance to Shinra HQ.

"You stayin'?" Reno asked, trying to be casual about it, as he and Elena entered his apartment.

"Of course I'm staying," Elena answered at once, smiling fondly up at the redhead, "I'm going to cook you something healthy to eat. It's been far too long since you've had a proper meal." She stood up on her toes to kiss his lips lightly while her hands pressed against his abdomen, feeling how much thinner he'd gotten. She hadn't thought it possible for him to be skinnier, but apparently it was.

"Yum," Reno commented on dinner, "I'm gonna go take a shower then." Reno felt tired, and he had a headache, but it didn't change the fact that he was feeling incredibly happy. Elena was back, and so everything would be ok. He dug around in his room until he found some sweatpants and a t-shirt. Reno tossed his jacket off into a corner somewhere, not really caring where it fell, and pulled his boots off before heading back down the hall towards the bathroom. He flicked on the light while undoing the buttons on his messy white shirt. He instantly froze in his tracks. Reno looked nervously down at the floor where two clear plastic bags lay, partly filled with pills.

All traces of the happy thoughts left his mind, shoved violently out by an uncontrollable urge born from the need for the drugs that was left by his abuse of the substances. Elena dropped a pan in the kitchen, causing a slight clatter as she let out a surprised yelp. The sound distracted Reno, and he jerked himself away from the pills, running down the hall to the kitchen, his feet padding silently on the carpeted floor.

Elena was just straightening up after having leaned down to pick up the empty pan from the floor. She turned when Reno rushed into the room. She laughed a little in surprise when he threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly just as suddenly as he had entered. She put the pan down and laid her arms around his shoulders, stroking the hair that trailed down his back.

"Wait, what's wrong?" she asked quickly, feeling how quickly his heart beat as his chest pressed against hers. Reno closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but quickly opened them again as images flashed back to him of himself crumpled on the floor, blacking out in a panic after overdosing. He swallowed hard, trying to bring himself to speak. He had always struggled with talking about things that bothered him, but he knew he had to try. Reno decided to just go with the route of absolute honesty.

"I'm scared," he whispered hurriedly, "The morphine and the sleeping pills are still there. I can't…" Elena reached up and put a finger over his lips.

"Say no more," she said, "I'll take care of it. Just wait here for a second." Reno nodded and let her slip out of his arms. He leaned his elbows on the counter, feeling stupid and weak for being bested by something as lame as a pill. Elena was back in moments.

"Ok, go ahead and take your shower, I'll get rid of them," her hands were shoved in her pockets as she nudged him off in the direction of the bathroom playfully, "Reno…I love you." He just smiled gratefully and ran a hand through his hair as he walked off.

Reno sighed contentedly, his head resting in Elena's lap. The dim light from the lamp on the table and the bluish glow from the TV were the only sources of light in the room. Elena had somehow managed to make a delicious and healthy dinner as well as clean up the place all in the ten minutes he'd been in the shower. Well, she'd disposed of the empty liquor bottles at least, which was quite a job by itself. Reno had to admit that he felt significantly better after actually eating something, and something nutritious at that. And he certainly felt good now, his head in Elena's lap with her hand laid on his chest, rubbing him gently every so often. The environment was so peaceful, his aquamarine eyes were starting to drift closed. Reno was extremely tired. He hadn't had natural sleep in weeks, and before that he'd slept uneasily and very little.

Elena really did hold him together. It was clear to them all now that without her, he simply fell apart. Reno was ashamed of being such a screw-up, and relying so heavily on Elena without helping her much in return. She was just so good, what could she possibly need his help with? He decided the least he could do was ensure that she never again doubted his feelings for her. He certainly wasn't ever going to leave her.

"I love you, 'Laney," Reno's sleepy words were mumbled, but didn't lack any of the affection he had for her.

"I love you too," Elena replied, and he could hear the smile in her words as she bent down to kiss his forehead quickly. Reno decided he would be more than happy to spend his entire life with her. He wondered what she would say.

_Author's Note: Yaaaaaay, it's cuuuuute. xD Anyway....=P So I realize this whole story is a bit messier than my usual work...I don't think I was quite ready to write it when I did. I fully intend to go through all my stories at some point and edit/re-write them to make them better, so I can hopefully improve this one then. I think it was pretty good over all though, so yeah....Hopefully I'm not the only one who thinks that. =P You guys are lucky I remembered to post this! I had forgotten what day it was and I almost went to bed without posting anything. So I love you all so very much and thanks for reading and reviewing! Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! KEEP ON ROCKIN' IN MIDGAR!_


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